KELMAN, Charles D. 1930-2004

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born May 23, 1930, in New York, NY; died of lung cancer June 1, 2004, in Boca Raton, FL. Ophthalmologist and author. Kelman was a famous eye surgeon, developing new procedures to remove cataracts that greatly improved patients' recovery. Originally desiring to be a jazz musician, his first loves were saxophone and clarinet. However, at his father urging, after earning a B.S. from Tufts University in 1950, he graduated from the University of Geneva with a medical degree in 1956. After completing a residency at the Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, Kelman moved to New York City and set up private practice. A central concern to him became the treatment of cataracts. At the time, the only way to remove them was to make a large incision in the eye and cut them out. However, this resulted in considerable pain and a long recovery time for the patient. Also, patients often still had to wear thick corrective lenses after the procedure. Kelman's first invention for treating cataracts was the cryoprobe, an instrument he created in 1962 that froze the cataract, which could then be more easily removed with less damage to the eye. But this still was not good enough to satisfy Kelman. A few years later, he had a brainstorm after a visit to the dentist during which an ultrasonic probe was used on his teeth. Kelman realized that this approach would work splendidly on cataracts, and he consequently invented a procedure called phacoemulsification. This involves the surgeon breaking up a cataract with ultrasound and then suctioning off the debris. The procedure, which was introduced in 1967, worked so well that cataract surgery has now become an outpatient procedure. Because of Kelman's extroverted personality—he still enjoyed performing music, as well as appearing in stand-up comedy routines, and was involved in producing Broadway shows—he became a natural for the television circuit and was a frequent guest on shows hosted by the likes of Johnny Carson, Oprah Winfrey, and David Letterman. Although this sparked jealousy among some of his colleagues, it could never be denied that Kelman, who immodestly called himself "the world's number one ophthalmologist," contributed greatly to eye care. He wrote about his life in the 1985 memoir Through My Eyes: The Story of a Surgeon Who Dared to Take on the Medical World, and was also the author of several medical books, including A New Cryosurgical Instrument for Treatment of Retinal Tears (1966), and Cataracts: What You Must Know about Them (1982).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, June 6, 2004, p. B14.

New York Times, June 5, 2004, p. B22.

Washington Post, June 5, 2004, p. B7.